


I Think I Kinda, You Know

by melodicchaos



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Don’t attack me because I didn’t write your ships everyone can ship what they want, F/M, M/M, Seblos and redlyn? First and last one!, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine’s Day fics!, also Gina cameo in the redlyn fic, these can be read in any order, you want seblos and rini? First two!, y’all get the idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:14:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22312339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodicchaos/pseuds/melodicchaos
Summary: Three Valentine’s Day fics for the three canon ships in hsmtmts. Simple as that.These can be read in any order, and you can read whatever ships you ship. You only ship seblos? read the first one! Same goes for the other two.PLEASE do not fight because I didn’t put your ship in. These are the only three ships I had the inspiration to write about, and I might write about more in the future!
Relationships: Big Red/Ashlyn Caswell, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts, Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 6
Kudos: 113





	1. Carlos and Seb

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy! Be nice, don’t get mad because I didn’t include your ship (I’ve said that 3 times, I know.) I might do it later! Patience is a virtue, guys. I just don’t want people to go out of their way to comment crap bashing a ship and ruin the experience for other people, it’s just not right to me.

Valentine’s Day had spread through East High like a virus. Everyone was focused on making plans for the special day, and looking for that special someone. The Student Council had even started up their annual carnation sale. Buy a wilting carnation and send it to your valentine for the low-low price of two dollars. 

“So,” Carlos started, leaning over the piano at lunch a few days before the holiday. “Valentine’s Day is coming up..”

Seb let out a sigh, glancing up at the other boy. “Car, we agreed we weren’t making a big deal of it. You made that choice, remember?” 

Carlos pushed up his glasses, moving closer to Seb. “Well, I take it back,” he said firmly. “We should do something. Nothing major, just something nice.” 

“Mm, fine,” Seb caved. “But nothing over-the-top. I don’t want you wasting money on me like that.” 

“Honey,” Carlos rolled his eyes. “You’re never a waste of my money.”

Valentine’s Day rolled around eventually, and Seb felt like he was walking on air. Everyone was so happy, even the people who didn’t have dates - probably because the senior class was handing out free candy to anyone not in a relationship. 

“Hey, Sunshine,” Carlos smiled, sneaking up to Seb from behind his locker. “Ready for our date tonight?” 

Seb nodded, closing his locker door and turning to face his boyfriend. “Yeah. Where am I meeting you, anyway? You haven’t told me anything.” 

“Your house, seven o’clock. See you tonight,” the brunet explained, before kissing Seb’s cheek and leaving. Seb’s cheeks turned as red as his flannel shirt, before he hurried off to class. 

By seven fifteen, Seb was beginning to get nervous. Carlos still wasn’t at his house, and there was no text message explaining why. His mind began to wander, wondering if something had happened to him or if he had ditched the plans all together. 

“Seb, hon!” his mom called from down the stairs. “Carlos is here!” 

Seb ran downstairs, to see Carlos holding a bouquet of flowers in a multitude of colors. “Sweetheart, you didn’t have to…” he sighed happily, taking the flowers. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, mi amor,” Carlos grinned with a kiss. “Grab your coat and let's go.” 

“Go? Go where?” Seb asked. 

“Your barn,” the brunet winked. “I put a picnic in the hayloft.” 

“You did?” the blond’s face lit up. “That’s so sweet, thank you. I should check on the cows while we're here…” 

Seb ran into the barn, greeting all of his cows by name. At the end, he stopped, petting the cow’s nose gently. “Happy birthday, Julie girl,” he murmured, before giving the cow a handful of hay. 

“It’s one of the cow’s birthdays?” Carlos asked. 

Seb nodded, scratching between the cow’s ears. “That’s why we named her Juliet. Now, picnic time?”

The two climbed the ladder to the hayloft, where Carlos had laid out a quilt on the floor of the loft, surrounded by a bunch of fake candles and a picnic basket in the middle. A string of fairy lights was hung from the rafters - God only knows how Carlos got up there - and a small bluetooth speaker tucked in the corner quietly played Broadway love songs. 

“Oh my god, sweetheart,” Seb sighed. “This is amazing. You didn’t have to do all this.” 

“I wanted to. You deserve it,” Carlos sat down on the blanket, opening the basket. “I’ve got pizza, strawberry salads, and my mom’s famous hot chocolate. And you’ll have to wait for dessert.”

Seb grinned, sitting down as well. “Don’t you have a competition tomorrow? Isn’t this going to make you feel sick?” 

“It’s worth it,” Carlos shrugged. “You’re worth it.” 

Just as they started to get dinner set, the playlist Carlos created transitioned to “Come What May.” “Oh, I love this song,” Seb grinned, jumping up. “Come on, let’s dance.” 

They slow danced to the song, Seb resting his head on Carlos’ shoulder, humming along to the melody. Carlos glanced down at his boyfriend, before pressing a kiss to his hair. 

“I love you,” the brunet whispered into Seb’s hair, just loud enough for him to hear. 

Seb pulled away slightly, looking into Carlos’ dark eyes. “I love you too,” he smiled. “I’ve been wanting to say that for a while, but I’ve been nervous.” 

“You had no reason to be nervous, mi amor,” Carlos reassured. “I would’ve said it back.” 

“I know that,” Seb ran a hand through his hair. “Come on, let’s eat before it gets cold. Plus, your present is back at my house, and I’d like to give it to you before the night ends.” 

The two boys settled down once more, this time enjoying their picnic and each-other’s company. Once it started to get too cold, and Carlos’ hot chocolate had started to cool off to the point where it didn’t taste good anymore, the two decided to head inside and exchange gifts. 

“Okay, I’ll go first,” Seb began, grabbing a bag from by his bed. “Here you go, sweetheart.” 

Carlos tore through the tissue paper, before pulling out a pair of brand new dance shoes, similar to the ones Gina had but in a neutral color. 

“Oh my god, Seb,” Carlos gasped. “How did you know I was looking at a pair of these, cariño?” 

“I overheard you talking to Gina about what brand of dance shoes she wears, and I have your mom’s number so I could ask her what size dance shoe you wear. Nice and easy,” Seb grinned. “You deserve some good shoes. You’re amazing at what you do.” 

“Thank you,” the dark haired boy breathed, holding the shoes as though they were a small, delicate animal. “My turn.” Carlos reached into his backpack and pulled out a box the size of his palm, wrapped in a sparkly red ribbon. He handed it to Seb, leaning back on his elbows. 

Seb untied the ribbon and pulled off the cover of the box, revealing a deep brown leather bracelet. Inside of the bracelet were the words “Count your blessings and dance your heart out,” with a small heart engraved into the leather. 

“It’s-” Carlos started. 

“What you told me when I was freaking out during ‘High School Musical’,” Seb finished. “Because my whole family had come to see the show. Thank you so much, Carlos. I love it. I love you.” 

Carlos leaned over on Seb’s bed, pressing a kiss to the blond’s lips. “I love you too, Seb. Happy Valentine’s Day.”


	2. Ricky and Nini

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Valentine’s Day fluff, now with rini

This wasn’t Nini’s first Valentine’s Day in a relationship. She got to celebrate with Ricky last year, but they had only been dating for a few months and they were sophomores, so they didn’t get major gifts or go out anywhere. 

This year was different, though. They had been dating for over a year - on and off, of course, but in total it’s been about a year - Ricky had his license and a car, and they could actually do things like go on real dates. 

That didn’t mean they would, though. The two were past the formalities of Valentine’s Day, and more so wanted to spend time with each other than in some restaurant or movie theater. 

“Hey, babe,” Ricky greeted Nini at her locker with a short kiss on the lips. “We all set for tonight?” he asked, a smudge of Nini’s lip gloss above his lip. 

“Yep!” Nini grinned. “My moms gave you the ‘okay’ to come over, they’ll be just outside the city for the weekend, but can be home in an hour if anything happens, and I already called the Chinese food place to place the order. All that’s left is us, some movies on Netflix, and our cozy pajamas!” 

“You are like a superhero,” he beamed. “Getting all that together. Anyway, I have to run home first and check in on my dad, so I’ll be there around five-thirty? Don’t start any movies or start eating without me.”

“I won’t, I promise.” 

Five-thirty on the dot, Ricky knocked on Nini’s front door, a small bag in his hand. 

“You know you don’t have to knock anymore,” Nini pointed out, tying off the braid in her hair. “You know where my moms keep the spare key, and you’re practically family. Just let yourself in. Kourt does.”

Ricky shrugged, kicking off his sneakers and putting them by the door. “It feels impolite,” he said as he sat down on the couch. “So, what movie did you pick?” 

Nini walked into the kitchen, grabbing the Chinese food bag and two glasses of water. “I was thinking ‘Lady and the Tramp,’” she called. “What do you think, darling?” 

“That sounds good,” he nodded, hugging a pillow on the couch. “You sure your moms are okay with this?” 

“Yeah, It’s fine,” she reassured, sitting down on the couch and resting her head on his shoulder. “They trust you...no, they love you. They know we won’t get into any trouble.” 

“Okay,” Ricky agreed, opening the bag of food as Nini turned on the TV. She scrolled through before clicking on the movie, and settled into a comfortable position. “This is a much better Valentine’s Day than last year,” he commented. 

“What? You didn’t like awkwardly exchanging gifts before school and then not seeing each other after school?” she teased. “Because I thought it was oh-so-romantic.”

“Oh, yeah, I definitely did,” Ricky laughed. “I think the best part was you having an allergic reaction to the chocolates I got you during lunch and having to go home early.” 

“Leave it to you to help me find out I’m allergic to nougat,” Nini rolled her eyes. “Come on, darling, let’s eat and watch the movie.” 

Just as the ‘He’s a Tramp,’ scene started, Ricky grabbed the remote and paused the movie. He grabbed the small bag from off the coffee table. He handed it to Nini with a small smile, before taking an egg roll from the container. 

“Ricky...what’s this?” Nini asked, setting down her container of food. 

Ricky smiled. “Your present.” 

She tore through the tissue paper, before pulling out a necklace box. “Ricky…” Nini sighed. 

“Open it!” he encouraged. She nodded, opening the box to reveal a necklace with an uppercase ‘R’ pendant. 

“R as in ‘Ricky’?” she asked. 

He smiled bashfully, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah.”

“My present isn’t done yet...hold on,” Nini jumped off the couch, before running upstairs and grabbing her tablet. “I was hoping to finish this before today, so I could buy the frame...but I couldn’t narrow down my number of photos…” she sighed, opening a slideshow she had been working on. The slideshow included pictures of Nini and Ricky, starting when they were kids and working all the way up to present day with photos from ‘High School Musical’ and Christmas. A song Nini had written for the holiday played as the photos changed, ending as a “The End” card sparkled on the screen. 

“You made this?” Ricky asked. “Not the tablet, but the slideshow and the song?” 

Nini nodded, putting the device on the coffee table and curling into him. “I wanted to show all of our moments together. I’m not very good at scrapbooking, and I didn’t want to ask my mom, so this was the second best.” 

“I love it,” he beamed. “It’s perfect. Like you.”

“Oh, cut it out,” she blushed. 

He shook his head. “I’m serious, babe. This is one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten, and that's saying something, considering my mom and dad got me my guitar for Christmas three years ago. And the custom skateboard Big Red got me for my sixteenth birthday.”

“Well, I’m honored, my love,” Nini smiled, leaning up to kiss Ricky’s jaw softly. “I thought your parents got you that skateboard?”

“Nah, that was all Big Red. He told me he spent, like, months saving allowance money to get it for me, but it’s super cool, and I love it. Not as much as this, though.” 

She rolled her eyes slightly, clipping the necklace on. “You’re such a kiss up.”

“Yeah, but I’m your kiss up,” he grinned. 

Late into the night, Nini started to drift off, her frame curled into Ricky’s. He held her close to him, moving his hand up and down her back like his mom did to him when he was younger, until the door creaked open. 

“Shh, she might be asleep..” one of Nini’s moms said in a hushed tone before rounding the corner. “Oh! Ricky, you scared me. Is she asleep?” 

Ricky nodded, looking down at Nini’s sleeping form. “I was just about to take her up to bed and head home. What happened to your trip?” 

“No, don’t worry about getting home at this hour. You can sleep in the guest room tonight,” she reassured. “And our plans got canceled due to the weather up north. Drove all the way up there only to turn around. Happy Valentine’s Day,” she sighed. 

“You two have a nice Valentine’s Day?” Nini’s mom asked, setting down the luggage. 

Ricky nodded, scooping Nini up. “Yeah, it was amazing.”


	3. Big Red and Ashlyn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even MORE Valentine’s Day fluff, but this time it’s Redlyn and a Gina cameo because I love her

Ashlyn wouldn’t call herself a big Valentine’s Day fan. Sure, she loved chocolate as much as the next person, romance movies were nice, too, and who didn’t like a nice bouquet of flowers every now and then? 

But overall, not the world’s biggest fan. Most years, she spent the holiday in an overly festive outfit, alone in her room, watching movies or writing songs and eating the box of chocolate her dad bought her. 

This year, though, she had Big Red. Sweet, caring, sometimes a bit dim, Big Red. So, Ashlyn needed a plan. A good plan that wasn’t too romantic and didn’t scream “please marry me right now” but was romantic enough to show she put effort into her idea. 

“Do you want to have dinner tonight and do you have any food allergies I should be aware of?” Ashlyn asked, marching up to Big Red after rehearsal. 

“Uh...sure?” he nodded, putting down the box of props. “And…beans. Most legumes, actually.” 

“I can do things without legumes,” Ashlyn nodded. “See you tonight,” she smiled, kissing him gently. 

Ashlyn bounced around the kitchen, running between stirring her pasta sauce and checking on her cupcakes. Her hair had become a cakey mess of tomato sauce and flour and her favorite playlist blasted over the bluetooth speaker - a mix of broadway ballads, pop songs, and some piano pieces. The music paused briefly, and Ashlyn ran over to her phone to see what the notification was. 

A text from Big Red displayed on her phone, letting her know that he would be leaving shortly, well, at least when the movie his parents were watching was done. 

‘No worries!’ Ashlyn texted back, before turning the sauce down and taking out her cupcakes. In the reflection of her phone’s screen, she noticed the mess in her red curls, and tossed the device down to clean up and get changed. She was just finishing her hair when the doorbell rang, and Ashlyn quickly ran downstairs, adjusting her dress before she opened the door. 

There stood Big Red with a bright grin on his face and a bouquet of roses in his hand. “Sorry I’m late, the movie was a lot longer than I expected,” he sighed, shivering in the doorway. 

“Don’t worry about it!” Ashlyn reassured. “Come inside, you must be freezing. I’m finishing up dinner now.” 

Big Red kicked off his shoes, and hopped up onto the kitchen stool. “You made dinner?” he asked, a bit awestruck. 

“I told you I would, didn’t I?” she asked with a smile, before giving him a small kiss. 

“Yeah, but I thought that meant you ordered pizza or something. Not all this!” he continued. “It’s great, Ash. Really.” 

“You’re great!” Ashlyn shot back, draining the pasta in the sink. “I also made cupcakes...it’s Gina's recipe, so if you don’t like them, blame her.” 

“Hey!” Gina called from the guest room. “I heard that!” 

“Hey, Gina!” Big Red replied. “I’m sure they’ll be amazing. Like everything you do.” 

“Oh, stop it,” Ashlyn rolled her eyes and grabbed two plates. “Let’s eat.” 

They ate in primarily silence, the only noise in the kitchen coming from Ashlyn’s speaker. It was nice, though. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence that was suffocating, just a peaceful silence that was warm and comforting. 

“That was...amazing, Ashlyn,” Big Red beamed. “You’re so amazing. Where did you learn to cook like this?” 

Ashlyn shrugged. “Oh, my mom, and some recipes I found online. Lots of trial and error.” 

He nodded, before his face lit up, as though he remembered something. “I got you something.”

“You didn’t have to—“ she protested but he shrugged her off and went to his backpack. 

Big Red handed Ashlyn a wrapped package, tied in a glittery silver ribbon. “I hope you like it,” he started. 

Ashlyn tore off the wrapping paper, revealing a signed vinyl record of ‘What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress,’ by Sara Bareilles. “Oh my god,” she gasped. “How did you get this?” 

“I pulled a few strings,” he shrugged. “You like it?”

“I love it!” she cried, before her face softened and she looked up at him. “I love you,” she said, just loud enough for him to hear. 

Big Red’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “I love you too!” he smiled, before kissing her. “You’re not just saying that because of the record, right?”

“No, I actually do,” Ashlyn said. “I’ve just been...waiting for the right time.” 

“It’s true!” Gina yelled from the guest room. “She’s been asking me about it, like I would know!”

“Shush, Gina!” Ashlyn cried, her cheeks and ears turning as red as her hair. 

“Well, I love you either way. I mean it,” Big Red smiled warmly. 

Ashlyn glanced over at the cupcakes sitting on the counter cooling. “Want to help me frost these? You can bring some home with you...we aren’t going to eat them all.” 

“Sure!” he nodded, grabbing the plates and putting them in the sink. “What do we need to do first?” 

“We need to take some butter and let it get to room temperature, so we can go watch a movie or something?”

“That’s fine,” he nodded, making his way to the living room and sitting on the couch. Ashlyn followed, and put on the Valentine’s Day episode of Glee. “I’ve never seen Glee,” Big Red confessed. 

“What? How?” she questioned. 

He jumped, a bit startled. “I’m not a theatre person! We didn’t watch it at home!”

“This will be fun, then,” she laughed. 

Ashlyn curled into Big Red, and hit play. Soon afterward, though, she began to feel her eyes get heavy and she began to drift off to sleep. Not long after her, Big Red fell asleep as well, his head against Ashlyn’s, as the ‘Stereo Hearts’ scene played on the television. 

Gina came downstairs, only to find the two curled against each other, and the television still on. She pulled a blanket over the two of them, turned off the screen, and packed up the cupcakes. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, you lovebirds,” she smiled slightly, taking a sip of her tea. “Hope you had a great night.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments and kudos aren’t necessary but are greatly appreciated!


End file.
